Meet Alice Eve - Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness

StarTrek.com reported last week that Star Trek Magazine #45 is out now and that it’s loaded with stories about Star Trek Into Darkness, including interviews with the entire cast, plus the filmmakers and other behind-the-scenes figures. Today, we've got an excerpt of the magazine's interview with Alice Eve, who portrays Carol Marcus in the film. Check it out below:

In your research about Carol, what did you discover about the character and how you wanted to play her?

In the original, when she was in The Wrath of Khan, she was older and she had a child [Kirk’s son, David]. I guess she was tough. This Carol Marcus that I was playing, I didn’t feel she was tough. I wanted to bring a vulnerability to her, because she was at the beginning of her journey as a woman, rather than the middle, where she had a child and she’s raising it. I wanted to bring that sense of hope and softness to her, along with the list of capabilities that are on the page. And she became mine at some point, I understood that there was a tradition, but I didn’t hold too tightly to any of it because she was mine now.

Let’s talk about the look of Carol, because fans have sort of obsessed over her retro look in the trailers. How did that come about?

Well, the costumes were already established, so it was understood I was a science officer in the Medbay, so I would wear blue in the sort of the shape of the dress that Zoe [Saldana] wore before. In terms of the hair, obviously this is the future, and there was this interesting debate that raged about what hair was like in the future.

We used the famous Vidal Sassoon bob from the ‘60s to build a hairstyle. We think it showed a sense of youth, and it was in keeping with the original imagery of the ‘60s show, but we modernized it and it added a clean efficiency to the line. It was that stuff we ended up falling on, and J.J. (Abrams) was involved in all aspects. He was even involved with the color I chose to wear on my nails.

In past Trek mythology, Carol and Kirk become lovers. Without spoiling your arc in this film, you are obviously a part of Kirk’s Enterprise, and right in the thick of the emotional journey.

Yes, I am, but it’s not always about Kirk. There are very heavy emotional journeys that we went on, but I think the most challenging thing for me was running around the Enterprise (Laughs). I had funny shoes, and I felt like I was running always, and everything was very high-intensity.

Star Trek Magazine #45 is on sale now. Click HERE to purchase and for details about ordering a subscription.